The Dresden Files

So far I've read the first four novels in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. They're good genre benders that are a blend of detective novel and modern-day fantasy. So when Sci-fi aired the first episode of TV show based on it, I was ready and waiting.

And now I'm officially disappointed. If they had made Dresden Files a magical take on a TV genre (like CSI with magic), it wouldn't have been the books, but it still could have been good. This episode was very monster of the week and I was waiting for Buffy to show up. And I like Buffy, but Harry isn't Angel. Characters like Bob the Skull and Murphy were different than the novels. Even Harry was different really. Harry isn't much of womanizer, yet you see him waking up with the blond in the first scene of the show. Harry isn't a finesse wizard, he's a brute powerhouse. Heck, he's not a finesse guy, he's a bull in a china shop. You don't see either of those things. And instead of just taking the skinwalker down with his blasting rod, he uses a typical Buffy-style magical trinket. And they got basic magical concepts wrong as well (like the magical threshold on a dwelling).

But I don't dislike all the changes. Bob is a ghost now. Oh well. Justin, Harry's evil mentor, is also his uncle. Interesting. And they have to fill up a lot of TV time, so this could make for a solid arc. Jeep instead of VW Bug, fine. Dropping out the pentacle in some scenes, sure as a symbol that is probably grief they don't need.

So I'm withholding judgement, but I'm getting pessimistic. The second episode doesn't look any better. Maybe it's because they're airing the show out of order. The serialization of the first Dresden novel, Storm Front, doesn't air until episode 5ish. It was shot as the initial two hour movie. Maybe they're trying to give people what they know (Buffy) to get them interested before they give them something they don't recognize. I don't know, but I'll continue to give it the benefit of the doubt for a bit.

Amy kind of liked it and is going to read some of the books now, so hey it couldn't be all bad right?